to hand you your head
- idiom
- UK
:
dar un severo castigo
- If you keep arriving late, the boss will hand you your head in front of everyone.
Examples
-
Messing up the project will make your manager hand you your head during the meeting.
-
The coach threatened to hand you your head if you missed another practice.
-
Don't make me hand you your head!
-
If you keep this up, I will hand you your head.
-
If you keep arriving late to work, the boss will hand you your head for disrespecting company policies.
-
Your careless mistakes will definitely make the teacher hand you your head when she grades the exam.
-
The manager warned that failing to meet the deadline would result in him handing you your head during the performance review.
Synonyms
113
8.2
To be punished or scolded for something you did
44
8.1
To tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
37
8.1
To scold someone very strongly for something they did
26
6.9
To tell someone firmly that you do not approve of their actions
11
8.1
To angrily tell someone off
9
7.5
To punish someone as harshly as possible under the law
5
8.3
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
1
8.1
To scold or punish someone angrily for something they did wrong
1
8.5
Shout at someone in a very angry way and threaten them
1
8.7
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
1
7.9
To scold someone strongly and warn them of punishment
1
9.1
To be very angry with someone and want to punish them
To scold someone strongly for doing something wrong
Tell someone angrily that you are upset with them
To scold someone angrily for something they did
To punish or scold someone strongly for making a mistake
To tell someone off angrily
To speak to someone in a sudden angry way without good reason
To yell at or threaten someone to make them try harder
Antonyms
How Severe
- Offensive
414
6.1
821
1.0
- UK
- Formal
33
6.1
55
2.2
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'hand you your head' is idiomatic and its meaning 'to punish or reprimand someone severely' is not directly derivable from 'hand' (to give) plus 'your head'. The literal constituents do not compose into this sense in a predictable way and the construction lacks a transparent, cross-linguistic logic for B1 learners, so prior exposure is needed.
Etymology
Hand you your head may come from a strong image: imagine a boss putting a hand on your head to show control while telling you off in front of others. That's why it means 'to punish or severely reprimand someone'.